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'Herndon' is a town in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. The population was 21,655 at the 2000 census, which makes it the largest of three towns in the county.^[1]

Contents

History

Geography

Demographics

Economy

Government

Attractions

Education

Sister cities

References

External links

History

Herndon was named for Commander William Lewis Herndon, American naval explorer and author of ''Exploration of the Valley of the Amazon''. Commander Herndon captained the ill-fated steamer SS ''Central America'', going down with his ship while helping to save over 150 of its passengers and crew. The settlement was named Herndon in 1858. In the 1870s, many Northern soldiers and their families came to settle in the area, taking advantage of moderate climate and low land prices. Herndon also offered a group of friendly and local native Americans who helped the town to prosper via trade and instruction. ^[2]
Originally part of the rural surroundings of the Washington, D.C. area, the town of Herndon developed into a hub of dairy farming and vacationing for area residents, aided by its presence along the Alexandria, Loudoun and Hampshire Railroad (later to become the Washington and Old Dominion (W&OD) Railroad). When the railroad was converted into a hike-and-bike trail, Herndon capitalized on history and small-town feel (in a major metropolitan region) by converting its train station into a museum and visitors center, by relocating a Norfolk Southern Railway caboose to a nearby site, and by replacing the name of the Norfolk Southern on the caboose with that of the W&OD.
Although the caboose does not resemble anything that ever traveled through Herndon, it remains an iconic part of the downtown area that both locals and tourists visit on a daily basis. The caboose and station offer to some a taste of the original town that has since faded into the suburban countryside. ^[3]
On January 14, 2004, the Town of Herndon commemorated its 125th anniversary.^[4]

Geography

Location of Herndon, Virginia

Herndon is located at (38.971478, -77.388675).

Boundaries of Herndon as of 2000 (U.S. Census Bureau)

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 10.9 km² (4.2 mi²), all land.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 21,655 people, 6,962 households, and 4,970 families residing in the town. The population density was 1,981.3/km² (5,129.9/mi²). There were 7,190 housing units at an average density of 657.8/km² (1,703.3/mi²). The racial makeup of the town was 57.89% White, 9.51% Black, 0.42% Native American, 13.86% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 12.95% from other races, and 5.32% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 26.01% of the population.
There were 6,962 households out of which 41.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.8% were married couples living together, 9.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.6% were non-families. 20.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 2.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.11 and the average family size was 3.54.
In the town the population was spread out with 27.1% under the age of 18, 10.2% from 18 to 24, 38.3% from 25 to 44, 20.5% from 45 to 64, and 3.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females there were 111.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 111.0 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $72,912, and the median income for a family was $79,140. Males had a median income of $44,197 versus $35,548 for females. The per capita income for the town was $26,941. About 4.7% of families and 8.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 9.1% of those under age 18 and 5.5% of those age 65 or over.

Economy

Herndon is part of the Dulles Technology Corridor, which Fortune magazine named the "Netplex" because of the presence of the headquarters of such companies as AOL, Verizon Business (formerly MCI, formerly WorldCom, originally UUNET), and Network Solutions, which began as the INTERNIC — the registry where every domain name was once administered.

Government

The town is organized as an incorporated town by the Commonwealth of Virginia,
^[5]
[6]
and is governed by an elected Mayor and Town Council
^[7]
who serve on a part-time basis. The current Mayor is Steve J. DeBenedittis, elected in 2006. The Mayor chairs the Council and heads the executive branch of the town government, and is supported by a full-time professional staff headed by the Town Manager (Art Anselene as of 2007). The Police Department is independent of the county police department, is headed by Colonel Toussaint E. Summers, Jr. and consists of 70 sworn officers along with the assistance of the Herndon Police Citizen Support Team. The Herndon Police Department achieved national recognition on November 8, 1986 by becoming the 7th police agency in Virginia and the 42nd police agency in the United States to be accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies.
^[8]

Attractions

Herndon boasts a wide variety of diversions and celebrations year round. Among the community events are:

April	Taste of the Town (Herndon Council for the Arts)
May	Friday Night Live! (free concerts May-August), Farmers' market (May-October), Towne Square Singers, Big Truck Days, Public Works Forest and Meadow Wildflower Walk
June	Herndon Festival, held for four days
July	Fourth of July celebrations and fireworks
September	Labor Day Jazz Festival, Annual Motorcycle Poker Run (Fraternal Order of Police), Annual NatureFest Celebration (Sept. 17, Runnymede Park)

Herndon contains the Herndon Depot Museum, the site of "Mosby's Raid on Herndon Station". The raid was a Civil War skirmish that took place on St. Patrick's Day in 1863. Also within the town is a golf course, community center with basketball and racquetball courts, and an aquatic center. Adjacent to the community center is Bready Park, with indoor tennis courts. Additionally, every residence within the town borders is within a mile or less of a public park.
Nearby attractions include the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center of the National Air and Space Museum (which houses the Enola Gay B-29 Superfortress, a Concorde supersonic passenger airplane, an SR-71A Blackbird plane and the Space Shuttle Enterprise), Frying Pan Park, Sully Plantation, Reston Town Center, Mount Vernon, Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts, Colvin Run Mill, Aldie Mill, Oatlands Plantation, Manassas National Battlefield Park and the Washington and Old Dominion Trail (which runs through the town).

Education

Herndon is within the Fairfax County Public Schools district.
Zoned elementary schools include [1]:

★ Aldrin Elementary School

★ Armstrong Elementary School

★ Clearview Elementary School

★ Dranesville Elementary School

★ Herndon Elementary School

★ Hutchison Elementary School

★ McNair Elementary School
Herndon Middle School and Herndon High School serve the town proper.
Some unincorporated areas with Herndon addresses are zoned to Westfield High School in unincorporated Fairfax County.

Sister cities

Its sister city is Runnymede, England.^[9]

References

1.
2.
3. A history of Herndon through the Washington & Old Dominion Trail., Charles V. Munro, , , Herndon Connection,
4.
5.
Code of Ordinances - Town of Herndon, Virginia; Charter, Chapter 2, Powers

6.
Code of Virginia, Title 15.2 - Counties, Cities and Towns, Chapter 11 - Powers of Cities and Towns

7.
Code of Ordinances - Town of Herndon, Virginia; Charter, Chapter 3, Mayor and Council

8.

9. Runnymede's Town Twinning Association

Ottershaw, in surrey

External links

★ Town of Herndon official website: http://www.herndon-va.gov/

★ Cyber Advisory Committee website: http://www.dhusch.com/

★ HelpSaveHerndon

★ U.S. Census Bureau: American Fact-Finder: Herndon, VA

★ Visit Herndon

★ Herndon Council for the Arts

★ Elden Street Players

★ List of Restaurants in Herndon (A wide variety, sorted by ethnicity and location)

★ Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts

★ Udvar-Hazy Air and Space Museum (Smithsonian Annex)

★ Friends of the W&OD Trail

★ Herndon Historical Society

★ May 2, 2006 election results

★ Final Voyage of the SS Central America Klare, Normand - Historian ''The Final Voyage of the Central America''. Exhaustive research documentation of the tragedy from actual accounts by the survivors of the ''Central America''. A further indepth biography of William Lewis Herndon' s life and US naval career.

★ Herndon and Gibbon, Lieutenants, United States Navy Klare, Normand - Historian ''Herndon and Gibbon''. The First North American Explorers of the Amazon Valley. Lieutenant William Lewis Herndon's and Lieutenant Lardner Gibbon's expedition to map the Amazon river from its source to the Atlantic Ocean. Stories from their actual reports to Secretary of the Navy John P. Kennedy, President Millard Fillmore and the House of Representatives of the United States.